Traditional Institution for Forest Conservation within a Changing Community: Insight from the Case of Upland South Sumatra
Abstract: Referring to the
studies on the success of community forestry, the proponents suggest reducing
the influence of the state to the people who maintain traditional institutions
in forest management. However, knowledge about the interaction of formal and
informal institutions in the context of changing smallholder farmers is still
not fully understood. Through a phenomenological approach assessing the
differences of forest conserving institutions’ performance across villages in
Semende, South Sumatra, we analyze the process of how traditional institutions
can survive or collapse. The main finding shows that traditional institutions
gained support and legitimacy from government’s formal institutions, to enforce
the rules, are able to survive until now. The key factor determining the
success or failure of traditional institutions is the structure of community’s
authority; whether it is based on to inherited knowledge or not. We propose a
new hypothesis for the concept of local institutions that successfully manage
natural resources.
Penulis: Edwin Martin, Didik
Suharjito, Dudung Darusman, Satyawan Sunito, Bondan Winarno
Kode Jurnal: jpsosiologidd160352
